The pandemic money is a bit of a misnomer too. It’s 2024, we’re 3 years out from that whopping $1400 of aid. Most of the pandemic money being discussed was actually the wealthiest 5% of Americans being able to slash their personal budgets by 20-30% that year, not to mention the lack of travel. Wages for the type of consumer who was getting govt checks during covid still haven’t caught up to inflation. We look at these aggregate models showing wages catching up, but they don’t break down for who. So it’s really like the floor falling out from underneath the lowest quartile of earners.
And I strongly disagree with the transitory nature of this inflation run, especially since that doesn’t address the unchecked price increases large corporations put in place under the guise of inflation but are now permanent.
That's a mischaracterization of the pandemic money when you refer to $1,400 checks. It was PPP, saving money working from home, not being able to buy things you want due to inventory shortages, lower mortgage payments from refinancing.
The price increases were going to be permanent because people could afford the increases because the root causes were supply shortages. Supply had to catch up with demand so we had new equilibrium prices to balance supply and demand.
I think it comes down to what you think is the root cause of the inflation - too much demand or too little supply.